Antipope Anacletus II
Anacletus II, born Pietro Pierleoni, was an antipope who ruled in opposition to Pope Innocent II from 1130 to 1138. After Pope Honorius II died, the cardinals split over his successor. A small eight-cardinal commission quickly elected Gregorio Papareschi as Innocent II. But a larger group of cardinals then elected Pierleoni as Anacletus II, causing a major split in the church.
Anacletus had strong support in Rome, especially from the powerful Pierleoni family and most Romans, while Innocent II had to flee to France. In northern Europe, Innocent gained important allies—Bernard of Clairvaux and the reforming Cluniac and Premonstratensian orders, plus the support of Emperor Lothar III. Without broad backing outside Rome, Anacletus struggled to build a wide coalition.
Pietro Pierleoni came from Rome’s powerful Pierleoni family. His father was Pier Leoni. One of his great-great-grandparents was a Jewish banker who converted to Christianity. Pietro studied in Paris and at Cluny, later holding several important church roles in Rome before becoming antipope.
In 1130, the eight-cardinal commission elected Innocent II, but Rome’s leaders elected Pierleoni as Anacletus II on the same day. Anacletus had the support of most Romans and the clergy and nobility there; Innocent II fled north. Innocent then won the backing of key reformers and rulers, while Anacletus found fewer allies beyond Rome. Rumors about Anacletus’s ancestry circulated, and Bernard of Clairvaux condemned the idea that a Jew could sit on the throne of St. Peter.
Anacletus’s position weakened, and he died in 1138. A rival pope, Victor IV (Gregorio Conti), was elected but submitted to Innocent II within a month. Innocent II returned to Rome and, in 1139, held the Second Lateran Council to reinforce church teachings and reform practices such as usury and clerical marriage. After Anacletus’s death, his brother Giordano continued to oppose Innocent and his successors in Rome.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:19 (CET).